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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24706540">That's How You Know</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightshadeDawn/pseuds/NightshadeDawn'>NightshadeDawn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>That happened... [68]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bisexual Kurusu Akira, Bisexual Sakamoto Ryuji, Bisexual Takamaki Ann, Canon Compliant, F/M, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, mostly - Freeform, they are all disaster bisexuals, threeway pining</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:27:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,507</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24706540</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightshadeDawn/pseuds/NightshadeDawn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryuji's been in love with Ann since middle school.<br/>Ann's in love with Akira, the pretty boy transfer.<br/>Akira fell in love with Ryuji after experiencing hell together.<br/>No one ever said love came easy.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji/Takamaki Ann, Kurusu Akira/Takamaki Ann, Sakamoto Ryuji/Takamaki Ann, Suzui Shiho/Takamaki Ann (mentioned)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>That happened... [68]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/760578</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>88</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>That's How You Know</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Based off the prompt: "I get why she chose you."</p><p>I am trash. And apparently the only way I can enjoy Persona 5 after the PS4 broke is by writing fanfiction. I swore I wouldn't, but yet, here we are.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>        Ryuji Sakamoto is in middle school when he first realizes he is in love. He doesn't know her name yet, but he will blame her for everything when it comes to girls. She is too pretty, no other girl can realistically compare. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        He first sees Ann Takamaki two weeks into her move to his middle school. She doesn't have any friends yet, so she sits in the corner of the courtyard alone. Several dipshits try to give her shit and she speaks Finnish to them in retaliation. Ryuji doesn't know what she says, but his cheeks burn bright as he listens. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Ann Takamaki is beautiful, too lonely to be a child anymore. She's mature and lively and out of Ryuji's league. He's a dumb jock who is two hours too close to the TV from needing glasses. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Three months into Ann Takamaki's seemingly permanent stay in Japan, she has a friend, Shiho Suzui. Ryuji knows her in passing. He supposed all the athletes do, somewhat. They've talked maybe twice, but she makes Ann happy and that brings Ryuji more joy than he can say. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        He tries harder than ever in track, hoping Ann will notice him. He has daydreams that she'll see him running and become so enamored with how COOL he looks that she'll approach first and Ryuji won't have to look super lame and shy- because he's NOT shy, dammit! He just... thinks girls taking the initiative is cool? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        But Ann Takamaki doesn't notice him, and she probably doesn't even know his name, and Ryuji is so hopelessly in love. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        The first time Ryuji knows for certain that Ann Takamaki's eyes are on him is when he stands between her and some older students who are downright </span>
  <em>
    <span>dicks </span>
  </em>
  <span>to anyone who is </span>
  <em>
    <span>different</span>
  </em>
  <span>. If they knew about Ryuji, they'd try to get under his skin too. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        It's not a statement, not yet. Ryuji thinks with his heart first, fists second, and brain last. In rapid succession he thinks: Protect Takamaki-chan, fight for her, make a statement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        He goes home that night, almost completely butchers his hair at one in the morning if his mom hadn't walked in on him doing and helped him figure it out. When he comes to school the next morning, the staff isn't happy. The students are wary. Rumors have already begun. Ryuji greets Ann Takamaki for the first time at the school gates, wearing a confidant gait and a hand in his fluffy blonde hair. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Her tearful smile is exactly what guarantees that it would not be the last thing Ryuuji did for love. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>        Ann Takamaki doesn't know she is in love until halfway through her first year of high school when she sees Shiho powerfully spiking a ball. It comes to her sudden and all at once, but not unexpected. Like she knew the entire time. It is the first time Ann Takamaki falls in love, but Shiho is her best friend first, and Shiho doesn't like girls. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Ann surprisingly doesn't think about love all that often. She knows that she is attractive and foregin and as long as she's in Japan, all people will ever see is her blonde hair, blue eyes, big boob combo. Not that they'd see much else elsewhere, but at least there'd be variety. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Somehow, Akira is different. He admits to appreciating her physical looks, and will never deny she is pretty. He says it like it's a fact (it is). When she talks, he listens. When they're together, he looks her in the eye. When she suggests something, he takes it seriously. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Still, Ann does not know she is in love until they take Shiho up to the rooftop. Ten, no five, minutes before Akira hugged her, Ann would not have been able to say she loved Akira, because she did not know. Ann knew she loved Akira from the moment he embraced her, making her feel safe and warm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Ann was dumb when it came to love, but love would always find a way to tell her anyway.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>        Akira Kutsuru had barely been in Tokyo for 48 hours when he knew he was in love. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        There had been the girl on the street, waiting out the rain with him. She smiled, sending butterflies right into his stomach. She was the prettiest girl Akira had ever seen... but he didn't know he was in love. He wasn't in love. He was curious, worried, when Kamoshida picked her off and spirited her away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        He was confused, and perhaps a little terrified, of the loud blonde who came to him right after. Brash, loud, not unkind. Akira followed him unwaveringly into the allies (a passing thought later would be what he wouldn't give for it to be anything but a path to school they were taking, perhaps letting him rough Akira up in the most pleasing way...) and to a castle. Akira didn't know he was in love yet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        They were knocked out, dragged to the dungeon, and tossed in a cell. The first thing Akira saw when he awoke was Sakamoto's worried eyes and his rough voice asking "You okay?" Akira might have been a little in love. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        When Kamoshida came and threatened- Sakamoto didn't hesitate to throw himself into the fray and demand that Akira “RUN!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        But Akira didn't run. Akira didn't run. He'd just come to the conclusion that he might be a little in love with this idiot he didn't even fully know the name of yet.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>        Ryuji was in high school when he fell in love the second time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        He continued to dye his hair, continued to work hard in track, continued to try to stand out to get a girl to notice him. Not just </span>
  <em>
    <span>any </span>
  </em>
  <span>girl. </span>
  <em>
    <span>The</span>
  </em>
  <span> girl. Ann Takamaki. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        She knew his name, they’d spoken several times. She’d given him money to buy a dolphin for his mom. They weren’t friends. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Ryuji wants to say he hated her for being so closely involved with Kamoshida. He wants to say he doen’t care, that he’s dying his hair now because he </span>
  <em>
    <span>likes</span>
  </em>
  <span> it (no, it’s not because he’s worried that if he goes back to black he’ll just fade back into obscurity, out of her gaze completely).</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Ryuji is jealous. He doesn’t hate Ann, he hates Kamoshida. He says he knows that Kamoshida isn’t her type because he hope desperately that </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> is.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        He doesn’t fall out of love with Ann Takamaki when he falls in love with the transfer student. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Akira Kutsuru is pretty, too. In a sly, mischievous way, but also in a dorky, </span>
  <em>
    <span>what-the-hell-am-I-doing-I’m-winging-it </span>
  </em>
  <span>way. He rarely smiles, he’s guarded against everyone. He hides behind those fake glasses and thick books and flawless manner. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        But he’s graced Ryuji with that knee-weakening smile more times than he knows what to do with. He’s gentle, easily accepts contact between the two. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        But he’s also scared, and that’s how Ryuji knows he’s in love again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        They stand before the elevator in a fancy hotel no one thinks they deserve to be at, and a bald man glowers and snaps and Akira goes </span>
  <em>
    <span>down</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Heart, fists, head. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Protect Akira, pummel this guy, Akira needs me right now</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Ryuji turns away from the horrid adults as they enter the elevator and turns back to Akira. Ryuji holds Akira’s shoulders, and Akira leans heavily against Ryuji. He’s not okay, no matter what he says. He’s pale, shaking. He holds his head like he’s been hit with Ryuji’s spiked bat and his eyes shine like he’s about to cry.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>        I don’t want to see anyone I love like this</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Ryuji thinks, and he doesn’t have to think any deeper. He has to take care of Akira.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>        Akira does not know if he is in love when he watches Panther seemingly dance through battles in Kamoshida’s Palace. He does not know if it is love when she spares Kamoshida’s life, or when she darkly claims “There are things worse than death.” It sends an excited shiver down his spine, but he does not think it is love.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        He knows he’s in love by the time she comes up with her little game, telling him to throw her off balance. “I love you,” he says for the first time, making her turn bright red and curl into a ball on the ground in embarrassment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Akira is serious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        He doesn’t know when, he doesn’t know how, but he fell in love.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        He looks at Yusuke with concern and maybe jealousy when he asks Ann to be his model. Ann deserves that, she’s so pretty. But he doesn’t want to share her with anyone else. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Ann is fierce and and kind and amazing. She has their fearless leader wrapped around her little finger and she doesn’t even know it. (Akira knows it, but he also knows that she’s not the only one…)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Yusuke joins, then Makoto and Futaba. Akira still can’t take his eyes off of Ann.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>        Akira wishes it was a confession when Ryuji tells him he has a place at Ryuji’s side. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        He wishes it was, and is miserable because it’s not. He loves Ryuji, but he’s pretty sure that Ryuji doesn’t even like boys.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>        Ann is dumb in love. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        She loved Shiho. She loves Akira. But does she love Ryuji?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        He’s annoying, and loud, and the only thing he ever does is ogle and talk about girls. But he’s sweet, and warm. Ann has fallen asleep against him in the Mona-car more times than she’d like to admit. She only ever woke up once, for only a few seconds, when he situated her into a more comfortable position.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Does she love Ryuji?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        But she knows she loves Akira.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        It’s not fair, at all. Why do they both have to be so kind?</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>        They go to Hawaii. “What kind of people do you like?” Ann is the one to pose the question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        “A girl with a great personality,” Ryuji says, thinking about Ann.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        “What if two girls have an equally good personality?” Ann pesters.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Ryuji thinks about Ann and any of the other girls he knows. Makoto is strong, Futaba is brilliant, Shiho is sweet. All of them are great people, amazing personalities. Ann is still the prettiest. “Obviously the one with the better bod.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        The question turns to Akira. “What kinda person do you like?” he’s asked, and he’s quiet for several moments, his arms loosey crossed on his chest. A small, playful smirk makes its way to his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        “Blondes,” he state, and that ends the conversation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Neither Ann nor Ryuji sleep well that night, both running Akira’s admittance over and over in their heads.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>        Ryuji dumb, but he is not blind. He knows how Ann sees Akira. He knows how Akira sees Ann. He’s known longer than they probably have. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I get why she chose you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he thinks, looking at Akira as Ann runs at jumps on him. He catches her effortlessly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        It breaks his heart and makes him happy all in one knowing that the two people he’s in love with are in love… but just as likely, do not love him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        A day back from Hawaii, he knows something has changed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        They stand a little closer, turn a little pinker when they meet each others’ eyes. Ann asked Akira out, out of the blue, out on the rooftop. They’re together now. It’s not that strange. The hero always gets the girl, right? And Ryuji is just the side show.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        He doesn’t mean to snap and fight with Morgana, but he doesn’t regret it either. Morgana doesn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>get</span>
  </em>
  <span> it, he doesn’t understand Ryuji. He’s never been in it for just any girl. He’s always been in it for Ann, he’s in it for Akira.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        He wants a chance, </span>
  <em>
    <span>any</span>
  </em>
  <span> chance, to show Ann and Akira that he’s still amazing too. The only people who he wants to be amazed by him being a Phantom Thief is </span>
  <em>
    <span>those two</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        All he ends up doing is looking like a dick and going back home sad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Their group is falling apart, and Akechi is on their tail, and all Ryuji wants is to be loved by these two beautiful people who stole his heart.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        “It’s obvious he likes you,” Futaba tells Akira and Ann. “Both of you. Even Inari can see it.”</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>        Ann doesn’t think it’s love.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        She enjoys having Ryuji around, she was sad when he wasn’t acting like himself. She’s overjoyed now that he’s finally part of their… thing that they have. She loves when he holds her in his strong arms, when he walked between her and Akira, a hand in each of theirs. She loves when he laughs or gets to talking about this new manga he read or “Hey, Ann, I found this shop you’d really like, it’s got a </span>
  <em>
    <span>huge</span>
  </em>
  <span> dessert bar-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        But Ann doesn’t know if it’s love. Maybe it is. Maybe she’s confused. She loves Akira. Akira loves her. But Akira loves Ryuji too and Ryuji loves them both?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        How can you love two people at once?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Ann doesn’t know </span>
  <em>
    <span>what</span>
  </em>
  <span> to think.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Maybe she’s just scared.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>        Akira dies.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Ryuji freaks out and Ann holds him in her arms, both sobbing and crying. He’s their </span>
  <em>
    <span>lover</span>
  </em>
  <span>, not just a leader or a friend. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Two thirds of a whole, they fit together nicely, but there’s an obvious piece still missing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Ann begs and begs and screams that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>can’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> be, he can’t be dead. He has to come back to the. It’s the only time Ryuji has ever seen her loose her composure. The only time he’s ever seen her so shaken, with tears streaming down her face, smearing her makeup and making her eyes red.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Sae Nijima comes to Leblanc, dragging a boy in after her. Ryuji and Ann run to him, embracing him, holding him tightly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Akira is alive.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>        It’s not fair that the moment Ann realizes she’s in love is in the worst possible time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        She screams for Ryuji when the fire clears, the loudest of the group only because Akira is frozen in shock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        This pain- she knew it when Akira died. But Akira had come back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        She couldn’t see Ryuji.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Ryuji was gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        And he’d gone, thinking that Ann didn’t love him.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>        They say you can’t bring the dead back to life, but if that’s the case, how did Ann do it twice?</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>        Why is Ann the only one who never died?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        “Please don’t,” Akira whispered, holding her tight. Ryuji for once doesn’t say anything, but the almost bruising hug he holds her in as the three lay on Akira’s bed says it all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        “I won’t,” she promises.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>        The first time they knew they were in love was a confusing mess of a story. They decide there will </span>
  <em>
    <span>never </span>
  </em>
  <span>be a last time. Because each new day, they fall in love a little more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>        Every time Ryuji smiles. Every time Ann stops and stares. Every time Akira gives a passing but earnest “I love you” as he’s on his way out the door. Every day, just a little more in love.</span>
</p>
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